Once you truly get a good feel for your car, you can shift with the clutch so smoothly the engine will decrease RPMs on the gear change like an automatic transmission. The key to it is never letting taking your foot completely off the gas pedal. You don't have to "blip" it, but you just let off a little when you push in the clutch. It's hard to describe. I found the sweet spot of my shifts after I had my car about 3 months, and ever since, it's been smooth as silk. I've got 147,500 miles on my original, factory clutch. And I'd say there's at least 50k left in it.